Turkey Day in Stockton

I decided to stay in San Francisco over the holiday, so my good friend Kathleen took me in as a holiday orphan, and invited me to have dinner with her parents in Stockton. Also in attendance were 2 dogs, 3 neighbors over the age of 90, and Kathleen's 90+ year old grandmother. Lots of food, and some opera singing.

Some videos.

Kathleen sings in Russian:


Kathleen sings in French:

The Buster Brown Band Performs at Ashkenaz

About two months ago, I joined a music program called Bandworks. You sign up and tell them what instruments you play. They place you in a band with 4-5 other people, give you some songs to learn, and someone to instruct and guide you.

I originally wanted to play the drums, but they assigned me to the bass. So I also became the lead singer. My group - the Buster Brown Band (myself, Patty, Jim, Oren, Bernie and our instructor, Bhakti) - met once a week for 8-9 weeks and then had our first and only performance at Ashkenaz in Berkeley on 11/14/07. Seemed to get a good reception, and I had a great time having my big rock and roll moment.

Check it out...(special thanks to Sean and Ingrid for taking the videos and photos).

Photos from the performance and later that evening:

Band Performance at Ashkenaz - 11/14/07

Videos from the performance:

The warmup and soundcheck:


Song #1: Island in the Sun, by Weezer:


Song #2: Friend of the Devil, by the Grateful Dead (video is sideways, sorry):


Song #3: Samba Pa Ti, by Santana:


Song #4: Learn to Fly, by the Foo Fighters:


Song #5: Suzie Q, by Creedence Clearwater Revival:

My show screens on the USS Ronald Reagan

A few weeks ago, I finished my latest 2 hour show for the National Geographic Channel (NGC), "Supercarrier: USS Ronald Reagan". It's a pretty fast show about the technology aboard this massive military ship, as well as what its like to live and work on the ship. All in all, a very fun show to make.

On November 13th, NGC held a special screening of the finished show (before it aired) on the deck of the carrier itself. Hundreds of Navy crew were there to watch the finished show, along with my staff from Indigo. My sister came down for the weekend and brought her kids, Gaby and Ben. They went to Disneyland, Sea World, and the San Diego Zoo. A very fun time for the kids - Gaby evidently told her teacher the highlight was seeing her Uncle Dan.

Photos from the screening:

USS Ronald Reagan Screening - 11/13/07

Videos from the screening:

Gaby and Ben walk into the chains room (the Fo'c'sle):


Chris on the flight deck:


Gaby and Ben playing with the tires of an F18 on the flight deck:


Carrie, Gaby, Ben and I in the ship's bridge:


Gaby and Ben go down ladder after ladder after ladder...:


Katie on the big plane elevator, about to go up:


The big elevator goes up:


During the screening itself (giant screens & sound system):


Elevator going down: